‘2018 poll losers must accept result’

HARARE – The loser of the make-or-break 2018 elections should “gracefully”
accept the result and help the winner deliver promises made to the
electorate, acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

This comes as MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has declared that he would not
accept the outcome of next year’s presidential election if he were to
lose.

Mnangagwa told Parliament’s Open Day symposium yesterday that the result
of the upcoming elections does not mean the end of the world.

“In the wake of the upcoming harmonised election, let me hasten to say
that political legitimacy must be derived through political representation
availed by a free and fair plebiscite and that those who lose in this game
must gracefully accept and assist and monitor the winner in the
implementation of people-centred policies,” Mnangagwa said.

Tsvangirai has been quick to suggest that President Robert Mugabe is
confident to participate in next year’s elections because he wants to rig
elections.

“Munhu ane 93 anovimba nechii? (Where does a 93-year-old person get the
confidence to participate in elections?),” Tsvangirai said while
addressing workers’ that gathered at Dzivaresekwa Stadium to commemorate
Workers’ Day.

“He wants to cheat. He thinks he can get away with cheating to win.

“We know what you are doing, we have all the information that you want to
cheat again like you did with Nikuv in 2013, but this time around it will
not happen.

“Takanangana nema elections ari kuuya (Speaking of the forthcoming
elections in) 2018, there is no outcome yatinobvuma isiri (which we will
accept besides a) victory for the opposition . . . Ini 2018 kana ndisina
kuhwina handibvume (If I do not win in 2018, I will not accept the
results).

“Because it’s very simple, how does a minority win over the majority?

“How does a divided, fragmented minority win over the united opposition
and a united alternative to the people?” Tsvangirai queried.

Meanwhile, Mnangangwa paid tribute to various initiatives of public
involvement which have been focused on bringing Parliament closer to the
people.

He said the transitional and transformative journey of Parliament from a
colonial to a democratic institution had been long and arduous but still
had some way to go to become a finished article.

He said since independence, the new Parliament has been determined to
transform the constitutional and legislative framework of Zimbabwe’s “body
politic by legislating for the empowerment of the masses.”